


Genocide Would Have Been Kinder

by Nightpounce



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Gen, Golden Age, Guardians of Childhood - Freeform, alternate endings, or maybe alternate beginnings?, passive aggressive fearlings, the Tsars and Tsarinas really messed up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-26
Updated: 2014-11-26
Packaged: 2018-02-27 02:33:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2675693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nightpounce/pseuds/Nightpounce
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the Golden General was charged with guarding the prison holding the fearlings and living darkness, things did not go as planned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Genocide Would Have Been Kinder

**Author's Note:**

> Reading a ficlet by mira-eyeteeth on Tumblr and then chatting the idea behind the story resulted in this >> I am really not sorry at all.
> 
> I wonder if they would actually have preferred death?

Kozmotis scrabbled frantically at the locks, struggling to loosen the latches and lift the heavy, star-metal beams holding the dense lead doors closed. He could still hear her screaming, oh gods what were they doing to her, his precious baby girl. One bar slid free, crashing to the ground, the echoes of the impact fading as they bounced down empty halls and across open spaces devoid of other life.

Wedging his armoured shoulder under the next bar, he heaved, choking back a sob of his own as a hiccupping whimper broke his heart, no NO! Why were the noises getting fainter? Was she being dragged further into the dark?!

“Seraphina, I’m right here! I’ll save you! I promise I-”

The metal shifted upwards, Kozmotis bracing both hands a little further down the beam, continuing to lift, snarling when at last it cleared the brace and slammed to the ground beside its fellow. Now all that remained were the wards, the faintly glowing runes a final barrier between the prison’s inhabitants and the stars…and the only thing keeping Kozmotis from his terrified daughter.

He was pushing on the doors before he’d even started the spell to break them, spitting the ancient words from between clenched teeth as he struggled to force the heavy doors open, rational thought lost to the panic gripping him when he realised he could no longer hear her voice.

There was no long, torturous screech of metal on stone as the doors swung inwards. Instead, the heavy lead moved smoothly, sliding back without a sound on hinges that should, by rights, have rusted into place many years ago. The lack of resistance caught the General by surprise and he stumbled, crashing to his knees between the now-open doors and barely catching himself before his chin could hit the floor.

Breath ragged and catching in the back of his throat, the Golden General lurched back to his feet, gloved hand reaching up and over his shoulder. Drawing his star-silver sword, he took his first stumbling step into the dark, golden eyes scanning frantically for any sign of his child.

Silence.

There was no trace, none at all! Why?! What good were all the hours spent training to fight the darkness, to hunt it through the void between the stars if he could not find a single mark or sign to show him where his daughter, his precious Seraphina, had been taken.

“SERAPHINA!” Eyes clenched shut as he straightened, removing one hand from the hilt of his weapon and pressing the heel of his palm hard against one eye socket. Breathe, just breathe. He could do this, he would find her. He was wise to their tricks and ploys; had seen through them innumerable times as he sailed the solar winds with his crew. The Living Dark was tricky, adapting and evolving, finding new ways to…

He paused, muscles stiffening as the enormity of what he’d done began to seep past the panic. No, he’d-but he, he’d had to, he’d heard her, she was here! She-

Movement caught his eye, the patch of light stretching out before him from the still-open door starting to shrink, his shadow fraying at the edges as the door….swung….shut.

It was not silent for long.

……………………………………………

The crew of the supply ship stared out at the deserted dock, searching for any sign of life but nothing moved; no sound of footsteps reached their ears, no greetings rang out to guide them into port. The silence was heavy, dim light failing to illuminate the full area, the skin on the backs of their neck pricking as if unseen eyes watched and waited.

“Strange…” The Captain ran a troubled hand through his hair, eyes still sweeping the landing area, “Not like him at all. Poor bastard’s usually champing at the bit for a taste of proper company again.”

Crooking his fingers at the First Mate, he called the man over, issuing the instructions that would have them docked and unloading. He didn’t like this, something felt…off. Changed. Once they’d off-loaded the cargo he’d have to take a handful of men to search for their missing host. Not standard procedure but he liked Kozmotis Pitchiner, respected him (they all did) and he wanted to be sure the Golden General was in good health.

“Right lads! Quickly now, I want the cargo unloaded and then we’ll-”

A surprised shout cut the Captain off, all eyes turning to the crewman stumbling back from the top of the gang-plank and away from the figure that had appeared, seeming to step from shadows suddenly darker than they had any right to be.

“Gentleman” The voice was strange, distorted and jarring, a voice made up of a thousand other voices. “We are so glad that you are here~” The crew scrambled back as the figure jerked forward, taking first one, then two halting, swaying steps; the disjointed movements lending to the unsettling impression that more than one creature moved beneath the man’s skin.

“Not another step, General!” The Captain’s sword never wavered, reflecting the meager light despite the lack of star-metal in the blade. The General, it could be no-one else, not clad in that distinctive golden armour, paused, torso pulling back and forcing the legs to follow.

“General? Oh no, we are afffraid the General is not here at the moment...” A smile crept over its face, stretching impossibly wide and continuing to grow.

“But…we will gladly take a message,” the sulfurous golden gaze caught and held the Captain’s, full of many things, none of which resembled Kozmotis in the least.

“What did you do to him?!” The sword point pressed against the breastplate, the creature’s head tilting, neck cracking as it regard the gathering crew without turning.

“Nothing, something,” It shrugged, each shoulder out of sync. “Won’t you help him, Captain? Help us help the General?” Alarmed cries and curses filled the air as the shadows lunged, tendrils lashing out like whips to disarm and snare the crew. A gloved hand caught the Captain’s wrist and twisted, forcing him to drop his sword, his assailant pressing closer. 

“We know you can,” He stared into the burning eyes, the darkness staring back, “We learnt, locked in there and now we’ll share.” It released his wrist, a sharp shove against his sternum forcing the Captain back a step as the Not-General held its arms wide, the shadows pooling and rising behind it like a wave, “We’re nice like that.”

…………………………………………………….

Golden eyes blinked slowly, as if their owner were relearning how to move his eyelids. Everything felt heavy, the soft surface he lay on encouraging him to simply roll over and continue sleeping. A gentle breeze ruffled his hair, the heady smell from the garden making him smile. Sera had been busy while he’d been gone, just like she’d promised. He wondered just how many types of flowers she’d managed to coax into growing in their gar-

Kozmotis bolted upright, staring wildly around the room – his bedroom, what?! – before a wave of vertigo hit him and he swooned sideways off the bed. He was still struggling with the sheets around his legs when the sound of little feet made him freeze, the door flying open to reveal;

“S-seraphina?” His voice was hoarse, throat dry.

“DADDY!” The young girl – she’d grown so much – threw herself across the room, barreling into him and locking her arms around his neck, face hidden against his shoulder.

“I don’t- How did I…” His arm came up, locking her in place against his chest as he sat up straighter, back supported by the bed. “Is this…are you…” His voice broke but he tried again “Real?”

She giggled, pushing back enough to rub her nose against his, green eyes sparkling. “Of course I’m real, silly!”

His vision blurred, a small furrow appearing as his daughter frowned, patting his cheek. “Daddy, why are you crying? Did I hurt you?”

Kozmotis laughed, shaking his head and pulling her back to his chest, pressing his face against her hair. “No sweetheart, you didn’t hurt me. I’m just…I missed you so much!”

“I know!” She giggled “They told me, when they brought you home.”

He froze, a chill creeping up his spine. “Who told you Sera? Who brought me home?”

“My new friends!” She pouted at him, “Don’t you remember?”

He shook his head, dread trickling through his veins.

“Aww…they said you wouldn’t but I thought you might.” She scrambled from his lap and tugged on his hand, urging him to stand, “The people you were guarding! I was scared at first but they brought you home and, well, they’re kind of creepy but once you get used to them they-”

He stared at her in horror. The people he’d been guarding? But he’d been guarding the fearlings, the Living Dark. Memories filtered back; his daughter’s voice, screaming, a frantic scramble to remove the locks and bars, the breaking of the wards and then…nothing. 

What had he done?!

The door crashed open, darkness flooding the room as fearlings poured inside, swirling around the pair and hissing in excitement. Kozmotis reacted on instinct, scooping his daughter into his arms and hunching over to shield her with his body.

“General.”

“Did you rest well?”

“You’ve slept a long time~”

The voices blended together, Kozmotis tensing against the expected pain of rending claws and ripping, soul-consuming shadows. It never came. He blinked, Seraphina squirming in his arms, her complaints that he was squishing her muffled by his chest. Slowly, he raised his head.

“Crumpet?”

What?

The fearling jiggled the plate expectantly, smile an unnatural slash of colour against the black of its face.

“They’re really very good~ I stole them myself from the bakery on the corner.”

What??

“I don’t-“

“Oh, well, they won’t go to waste. We can throw them at people’s windows later.” The plate was dropped, vanishing into the shadows at his feet. “Would you prefer a muffin?”

“No! I don’t want a blo- I don’t want a muffin!” He caught himself, no swearing in front of his daughter; not even if his precious baby was kicking him lovingly in the knee, indicating she wanted down. “I want to know what’s going on!”

“You let us out!”

“We brought you home~”

“You were broken!”

“Yeesssss, so broken.”

“So we fixed you and-”

“ENOUGH!” Kozmotis raised one hand, pinching the bridge of his nose, the other arm still wrapped firmly around his daughter who was now drumming the fingers of one little hand against his forearm, pouting. “Is this a trick? What have you done?!....what have I done…?” The last was a horrified whisper.

The fearling closest to him grinned, “You freed us~ Let us out, saved us from our torment. It would have been rude not to say thank you. So we brought you home.”

“Why can’t I remember anything?! How did we get here?” Kozmotis flinched when a fearling oozed over his shoulders.

“You fainted! Yes, dead away. Not enough sleep.” The other fearlings hissed, nodding in agreement. “So we moved you! It took us a while to work out how to make you walk properly, everyone wanted to steer, but once we got the hang of it, it was easy.”

Kozmotis started at the creatures in horror. “Make me walk!?”

“And wave, and speak. The Captain wasn’t very helpful at first but he changed his mind, oh yes~” The fearling paused at his horrified expression. “Well, we weren’t going to drag you, how uncivilized.” It looked offended but Kozmotis refused to apologise, instead focusing on the rest of its explanation.

“The supply ship…the crew…did you kill them?!” Kozmotis growled, looking around for his sword.

“Kill them? Darkness no, how medieval!” The head fearling waved a claw. “We simply convinced them of the merits of helping those in need, the importance of friendship and a shared community spirit, the bonds of blood…”

Kozmotis stared. “But…if I’m home and you’re all…free…why are you still here!?”

The room darkened, the fearlings pressing closer to the pair. Kozmotis smacked away a few wandering claws that reached out to play with his daughter’s hair.

“We find we are quite fond of you~ You were with us for such a long time, General. A loyal, steadfast companion. It would be a crime to abandon you.” 

Kozmotis blinked, “But, but what about the Golden Army?” 

“Well, once they realised that stabbing was no longer a viable negotiation method they agreed to listen to reason.” The fearling sounded smug.

The Golden General groaned, covering his eyes with his free hand.

……………………………………………..

“Oh dear, I just don’t seem to be able to walk in a straight line today! I hope no-one minds that I appear to be accidentally jay walking.” A fearling slid across the street, a car swerving to avoid it.

“Oops! Clumsy me, I appear to have dropped my gum! How shocking!” Kozmotis sidestepped, continuing up the street.

“Fuu Fuu, no! You can't do that there!" The draconian mount used by the Golden Army for aerial scouting shook its wings, appearing quite proud of its efforts. “Oh dear. I don't seem to have enough baggies for that. On the bright side, at least no-one was home…" A shutter creaked, hanging from its hinge for another second before falling free and landing with a squelch. The General strode resolutely through an intersection.

A shriek from an open window drew Kozmotis’s attention briefly, a hissed apology and a ‘So you wouldn’t like me to wash your back then?” encouraging him to increase his pace, eyes stubbornly locked on the path before him.

The stars would never be the same.


End file.
